Is this Forever, or What?: Poems and Paintings from Texas

Bibliography

Nye, N.S. (2004). Is this forever, or what?: Poems & paintings from Texas. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0060511788.

Review

In the introduction to this anthology, Naomi Shihab Nye explains that the poets and the painters that contributed to it “represent the beautiful diversity, the multiplicity of our state”.  This rings true in multicultural poems by poets such as Pat Mora and Sandra Cisneros. Many of the poems are nostalgic, reflecting life in small Texas towns such as “And Every Town it’s Dairy Queen” and “El Ice-Creenero/The Ice-Cream Man”. The topics and poetic formats are also diverse. Some poems are written using rhyming stanzas while others are strictly free verse. “At Sixteen” is written in four line stanzas where the second and fourth line of a stanza become the first and third line of the following stanza creating a playful repetition. The paintings also celebrate diversity showing Texas landscapes as well as abstract pieces. Readers can learn more about the artists that contributed to the book by reading the epilogue.

Classroom/Library Connection

Recommended audience: High school students

Before reading: Discuss the term imagery and how it relates to poetry.

During reading: Read the poem “Earl’s” by Andrea Greimel aloud. Put the poem on the document camera so that students may re-read it to themselves. Here are the first three stanzas:

The blue-haired ladies

mash at the crust

of their red cherry pie

with the backs of forks

sip at watery Sanka

all dolled up

with NutraSweet

talk over the gravest faults

of their daughter-in-law

out of the sides

of latticed lips

After reading: Give students art materials such as charcoal pencils, oil pastels, or watercolors and allow them to create this scene as they see it.

Spectacular Science: A Book of Poems

Bibliography

Hopkins, L. B. (1999). Spectacular Science: A book of poems. Ill. by Virginia Halstead. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0689851209.

Review

Lee Bennett Hopkins has collected a variety of poems dealing with scientific topics including wind, magnets, dinosaurs, and other questions about the world around us. Students will be drawn to Halstead’s bright illustrations that accompany each poem. The poems are simple enough for students to comprehend while still containing scientific facts that can be incorporated into curriculum. The form varies by poem, but several poem include elements such as alliteration or repetition like in the poem “Stars” by Carly Sandburg where the first four lines of the five line poem start with “The stars..”. This collection provides students an exciting way to explore the scientific world around them.

Classroom/Library Connection

Recommended audience: younger elementary students

Before reading: Ask students what grows from a seed. Make a list on chart paper of their answers.

During reading: Read the poem aloud to students

The Seed

By Aileen Fisher

How does it know,

this little seed,

if it is to grow

to a flower or weed,

if it is to be

a vine or a shoot,

or grow to a tree

with a long deep root?

A seed is so small,

Where do you suppose

It stores up all

Of the things it knows?

After reading: Put students in groups of 3-4. Take them outside, and give each group a small pot, dirt, and some seeds for various flowers. Have students hypothesize about what these seeds may grow into. Have them record their hypothesis in a science journal. Then they plant their seeds. Allow them to take them back to the classroom to care for them and see what blooms from their mystery seeds!

Freedom like Sunlight: Praisesongs for Black Americans

Bibliography

Lewis, J.P.(2000). Freedom like sunlight: Praisesongs for Black Americans. Ill. by John Thompson. Minnesota: Creative Editions. ISBN 978-0898123821.

Review

J. Patrick Lewis honors thirteen African Americans whose legacies have left an impact on society in this celebratory book. The poems highlight the struggles faced by those that wouldn’t accept injustices as shown in the poem “Rosa Parks”:

“And Many a fire was set that night,

And Many a head turned ghostly white

Because she dared disturb the peace”.

Talented African Americans like Marian Anderson are also celebrated. Her voice is compared to a paintbrush painting a masterpiece. The poems are rich with beautiful language, metaphors, and repetition, and they present facts in a way that will captivate students and encourage them to seek more information on the individuals. Each poem is accompanied with a detailed portrait of its subject created using pastels, pencils, and paints. The portraits themselves provide biographical information such as the two page spread of Martin Luther King, Jr. being arrested or the portrait of Harriet Tubman courageously leading a slave to freedom as she grasp her hand firmly. The poems are excellent for accompanying biographical studies or just enjoying as a celebration of African American history. Students can learn more about each figure by reading the biographical notes at the end of the book.

Classroom/Library Connection

Recommended audience: upper elementary students

Before reading: Play the students the song “Go Down, Moses” so that they can hear the tune.

During reading: Read the poem “Sojourner Truth” to students and let them hear the words to each verse and the chorus.

Here is the first verse, chorus and last verse of the poem:

I was Isabella born,

Children, hear my cry,

And I was child to scalding scorn,

Children hear my cry.

Chorus:

Hold on, Jesus, ain’t I a woman born?

Tell the children, let them hear my cry.

I go on preaching freedom’s fire.

Children, hear my cry.

It ain’t for sale and it ain’t for hire,

Children, hear my cry.

Chorus

After reading: Have the chorus posted on a SMART board or chart paper so that students can sing it as you read the poem a second time.